Transitions
Identify a transition word that signals cause and effect, and is appropriate between a claim and supporting evidence.
What is therefore?
Signals that what follows is the result or effect
Name one rhetorical choice a writer makes that directly responds to an audience’s values.
Using a local example or anecdote that the audience recognizes (e.g., referencing the audience's school) appeals to shared values and increases relevance.
Identify the appeal in the following quote:
"We have lost a great president, a great American,
and a great man, and I have lost a dear friend."
What is an appeal to ethos?
Define a claim. Write an example.
What is a clear statement of position on a topic that can be reasonably supported or opposed with evidence?
Example: School libraries help students learn research skills.
Write a thesis statement for the following prompt:
To what extent should local governments continue to fund public libraries given widespread digital access?"
What is Local governments should fully fund public libraries as they provide both print and digital access to books, as well as invaluable community spaces, which lead to a more literate and united community?
In a sentence, explain how a transition like “however” changes the relationship between two ideas in an argument.
"‘However’ signals contrast or qualification; it tells the reader the next idea will modify or oppose the previous claim, so it sharpens the writer’s analysis by showing complexity."
In a sentence, explain how diction can alter an author’s perceived credibility (ethos).
Precise, formal diction (technical terms used correctly) can increase the author's perceived expertise, while slang or vague language can weaken credibility by making the writer seem less authoritative.
Define an appeal to pathos and write an example.
What is an appeal to emotion?
Example: Please come rescue these huddled, shivering, crying puppies!
Identify a piece of evidence from the following excerpt:
Love it or hate it, America’s annual observance of daylight savings time would be extended one additional month under a provision of the massive Energy Policy Act of 2005. . . .Daylight Saving Time—for the U.S. and its territories—is NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Eastern Time Zone portion of the State of Indiana, and by most of Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona). These states and territories remain on their local “standard” time throughout the year. . . .Theory has it that daylight savings time promotes energy conservation. . . . Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that America’s electricity usage is reduced by about one percent during each day that daylight savings time is in effect.
DST is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, parts of Indiana, and most of Arizona.
1970s studies by US DOT show that USA reduces energy usage by 1% daily when in DST.
Reword the following prompt as a question:
With the increasing specialization of careers, school are deciding how to prioritize their scheduling and class offerings. Some schools are choosing to prioritize career training over a liberal arts education. Still others argue that a liberal arts education is necessary to expose students to a wide variety of possible interests and fields. Write an argument advising a school board to prioritize career training or liberal arts education.
What is Should secondary schools emphasize vocational and career training rather than a liberal arts education?
Given these two sentences, add an appropriate transition and explain your choice: “The data show increased recycling rates. ____, many communities still send recyclable materials to landfills.”
What is nevertheless?
Explanation: "Nevertheless" highlights the contrast between the positive trend and a persistent problem."
Identify a rhetorical move in the following excerpt: (from Obama's "You Need to Vote" Speech)
I’m here today because this is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us, as citizens of the United States, needs to determine just who it is that we are, just what it is that we stand for. And as a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president, but as a fellow citizen, I am here to deliver a simple message, and that is that you need to vote because our democracy depends on it.
What is characterizes himself as a citizen?
What is delivers a simple message: vote?
What is creates a sense of unity and community?
Integrate the following data point into a a sentence as evidence. Then write a sentence of commentary.
Claim: Companies should continue to fund and staff stores for in person shopping.
Evidence: In 2025 79% of fashion sales happened in stores, and only 21% of fashion sales came from online sales. (Global Apparel Industry Statistics 2025)
Companies should continue to fund and staff stores for in person shopping. According the Global Apparel Industry Statistics, in 2025 "79% of fashion sales happened in stores." As this large margin of sales occurs in person, fashion companies in particular must continue to run physical stores, or risk losing the majority of their sales.
Write an example of argument evidence to support this claim.
Claim: Businesses such as gyms, arcades, movie theaters, etc., should allow free entry to students during the summer.
Claim: Businesses such as gyms, arcades, movie theaters, etc., should allow free entry to students during the summer. During summer months, students, who would normally spend 6-8 hours a day in school and after-school activities, have little to occupy their time. In some cases, this has led to young people causing disruptions, leading the curfews and dress codes enforced in popular locations, such as the Wildwood Boardwalk in Wildwood New Jersey.
Identify the problem with this thesis statement and fix it.
Social media both strengthens and weakens teenagers' civic engagement: it facilitates rapid mobilization and information access but often fosters superficial participation and misinformation that undermine sustained civic commitment.
What is this thesis statement equivocates?
Revised thesis: While social media facilitates rabid mobilization and information access in teenagers, it often fosters superficial participation and misinformation which ultimately undermine teens sustained civic engagement.
List two different types of transitions you could use to transition between paragraphs.
1) Addition/continuation: 'Moreover, the study shows...'
2) Cause-effect/summary: 'As a result, communities should...'"
Identify a rhetorical move in the following excerpt: (from Banneker's Letter to Thomas Jefferson)
This sir, was a time in which you clearly saw into the injustice of a state of slavery and in which you had just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition, it was now, sir, that your abhorrence thereof was so excited, that you publickly held forth this true and valuable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded and remembered in all succeeding ages. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
What is formal tone?
What is an reference to the Declaration of Independence?
What is an appeal to Jefferson's "understanding" of slavery from being subjected to British rule?
What is an appeal to logos becomes false cause or false dichotomy?
What is an appeal to pathos becomes fear-mongering?
What is an appeal to ethos becomes bandwagon or testimonial?
Determine if the following passage is an example of claim, evidence or commentary.
Even though it was dangerous and scary, the people running the boats on 9/11 knew it was the right thing to do, despite the uncertainty and grief facing their country.
What is commentary?
Identify three keywords from the following synthesis prompt. Then, reword the prompt as a question.
Eminent Domain is the power governments have to acquire property from private owners for public use. The rationale behind eminent domain is that governments have greater legal authority over lands within their dominion than the private owners. Eminent Domain has been instituted in one way or another throughout the world for hundreds of years.
Carefully read the following six sources. Then, synthesize material from at least three sources and incorporate it into a coherent, well-developed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies the notion that Eminent Domain is productive and beneficial.
What are "private owners/property", "public use", "greater legal authority"?
What is To what extent is eminent domain productive and beneficial?
Rewrite this sentence and justify why your revision is clearer: “Next thing, the author gives statistics.”
"Next, the author presents statistical evidence."
Justification: "Next" is concise and formal. "Presents statistical evidence" precisely describes the move and fits academic tone, improving clarity.
Identify a rhetorical move in the following excerpt (from Roosevelt's 2nd Inaugural Address 1905)
Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as befits a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong. While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness.
What is defines America's responsibility to use the gift of democracy for good?
What is encourages Americans to relate to others peacefully?
What is clarifies that while the USA should be supportive to other countries, we will not abide injustice?
Identify the rhetorical appeal in the following quote:
"In what local authorities are calling a "near tragedy," Charles Wentworth, a 17-year-old Rutgers Preparatory senior and member of the affluent Wentworth family, came perilously close to suffering a consequence resulting from his own wrongdoing Saturday."
What is an appeal to logos (irony)?
What is an appeal to pathos (frustration)?
Write an example of evidence for the following claim (Can't be personal experience OR fiction)!
Claim: Leaders have to break from tradition to succeed.
Mark Zuckerberg dropping out of Harvard.
King Henry 8th started his own church.
The Little Rock Nine integrated Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas, despite mobs trying to keep them out.
Write a qualified thesis statement in response to the following prompt:
Do technological advances widen or reduce social inequality?
What is Although access to new technology continues to be unequal, technological advances reduce social inequalities as they mechanize time-consuming work and provide access to near-infinite information leading to a freer and more educated population.